Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales by Tamora Pierce: A terrific set of stories set in and around the fantasy kingdom of Tortall. My review is here.

A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn: The 4th book in the delicious Victorian-era mystery series starring Veronica Speedwell. My review is here.

Thanks to the Serial Reader app, I was able to fulfill one of my goals for this year: Read more Dickens! I finished The Old CuriosityShop in a mad rush over the weekend. While the point of Serial Reader is to take a big, potentially daunting book and digest it in small, bite-sized pieces, I have a tendency to reading many days’ installments in a row as I get close to the end. The Old Curiosity Shop was a 75-installment serial on the app, but I ended up finishing it in five weeks. Serial Reader is a really fun way to tackle bigger books, and I had a great time reading this work by Charles Dickens, which — to be completely honest — I hadn’t even heard of before I went looking for Dickens options.

Pop culture goodness:

Over on Netflix, I watched the first episode of The Umbrella Academy. Seems like a promising start! I’ll definitely be continuing over the next week or so. Anyone else watching this?

Fresh Catch:

Once again, no new books! Except for the Kindle variety, because I can never resist a good Kindle deal.

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

Inspection by Josh Malerman: I’ve only read the first chapter so far. Man, is it weird! But in a good way, so I’m buckling in for the ride.

Now playing via audiobook:

Only Child by Rhiannon Navin: My current audiobook is my book group’s pick for March. It’s pretty hard to take because of the subject matter — a school shooting. At the risk of sounding insensitive, the POV was kind of off-putting at first. The book is told from the perspective of a six-year-old, and while it’s moving and tragic, having a child narrate an entire novel got on my nerves a little at the beginining. Now that I’m past the halfway point, I’ve gotten used to it. It’s a brutally emotional book, but so compelling.

Ongoing reads:

Two ongoing reads with my book group:

A Plague of Zombies by Diana Gabaldon: We’ll be finished with this Lord John novella this coming week.

I have yet to start Deanna Raybourn’s series but I’m hoping to get around to it eventually! Everyone sure seems to love it. Glad to hear you enjoyed the first episode of Umbrella Academy at least. I haven’t started it yet but it’s on my watchlist!

Oh I’m gonna look if a deal is still available for My Sister the Serial Killer. I have it on hold in all formats at the two library systems I belong to. Despite that, I don’t expect to get it until beginning of summer if then.

Got some interesting sounding reads here, might have to look into a few you’re reading right now. Ironically, I literally JUST started watching the Umbrella Academy. So far it’s entertaining. Thanks for sharing, this meme is a good way to keep peeps posted. 😀

Top Reads of 2020!

Book Blog Meme Directory

Thursday Quotables

Outlander Book Club

A place to discuss the wonderful works of Diana Gabaldon, plus so much more! All are welcome.

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Disclaimer:

I occasionally receive review copies of books from publishers or via NetGalley. For all reviews, the source of the book I’m reviewing is identified in the details section at the start of the review. All reviews reflect my honest opinions, regardless of source.